One way that businesses provide value to customers in a website is to provide them with tools that the customer can use in solving a particular problem associated with goods or services provided through a web site. Web sites operated by financial services companies offer a wide variety of calculators for their customers. For example, loan calculators with amortization schedules may be provided by some companies. These calculators may vary with regard to their inputs, but many will have windows to input a principal amount, the number of months within which to pay the loan, an interest rate, the payment schedule, and a total amount paid for life of the loan. Among other common calculators are savings and investment calculators, retirement calculators, 401(k) calculators, etc. More complex calculators may be used to develop financial plans that take into account the assets, liabilities, debts, and expenses of an individual.
Among the many tools provided are calculators that assist the customer in planning for significant life events such as retirement or financing their children through college. For example, in a web site for a business that provides financial services, the web site may provide calculators on a web page that make it easy for customers to plan for their needs. If the customer is interested in college savings, the institution may provide a college savings calculator where the customer can input a time frame, geographic region and type of college, and the calculator will determine the amount of money that the customer would need to save. Similarly, if the customer is interested in retirement savings, a calculator may be provided where the customer can input their current age and desired retirement age, and the calculator will determine the amount of savings required.
A disadvantage shared by sites that provide web pages with calculators is that data entered by the customer is not saved for future use by the customer and the business. Another disadvantage of the way calculators have been implemented in many sites is that data entered into one calculator cannot be shared with another calculator that may use the same data. Furthermore, an institution may have much of the information that must be input into the calculators, in particular if the customer has an existing relationship with the business providing the website. For example, a banking institution may provide a retirement calculator for its customers, and the institution may already have access to much of the information required for input. However, such websites are typically provided by third parties and are not integrated with the institution's databases, thus requiring the customer to enter information that the institution already has in its possession. Consequently, as customers use multiple tools and calculators, the same questions are asked multiple times. Finally, lack of integration with other services and systems prevents institutions from providing more comprehensive services.
Another disadvantage of existing financial calculators is their relative lack of detail in the recommendations provided. For example, an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) Analyzer may only give advice between saving in a Roth IRA or a Traditional IRA. Typically, a user needs more detailed information to adequately plan for significant life events. Similarly, most college calculators only provide general financial guidance and do not account for specific colleges and universities even though such data is readily available.
What are needed are systems and methods that address the shortcomings described above.